Treading Water
by CynicAlb
Summary: This is an AU tag for Fire and Water. Daniel escapes before the team goes back for him.


Treading Water

Jack was on a rampage, again, or rather was still on the same rampage he'd been on since the funeral. Everyone knew how hard SG-1 was taking the loss of their teammate, but they were also getting very tired of dodging them in the corridors around base. O'Neill was the worst, Carter and Teal'c mostly kept to them selves working through the grief and in their own way honoring their fallen friend, but the Colonel liked to inflict his grief on the world at large in loud, violent and sometimes even explosive ways.

General consensus was that they wouldn't have been nearly as devastated if they'd never realized the first memories were planted. Carter had let them hypnotize her and they'd gone haring off back to P3X 866 only to find exactly, nothing. No leads and no aliens. After a day searching the surface they requested diving equipment and came up with little more than an underwater ruin and Jackson's helmet crushed underneath a rock, and fifty feet of water. Jackson went from KIA to MIA, to MIA presumed dead within the four days since the initial mission. No body was recovered and it was the uncertainty that was tearing the remaining members apart.

* * *

Daniel kicked as hard as he could for the surface, but he was fighting exhaustion, and the lingering effects of the memory machine. He was so tired and he hurt, from the top of his skull to the base of his stomach he hurt. Gasping for breath he made it to the surface and crawled up onto the sand thankful to have escaped with his life. After finally finding Nem the answer he'd searched for, for so long the alien had flown into a rage begun smashing everything in sight including the generator for the force-field that held back the water at the window. Daniel lay back on the beach panting, and reveling in the warmth of the sun. His eyes drooped as his breathing eased and he allowed his body to succumb to the rest it so desperately needed.

* * *

Tuplo greeted his daughter warmly at their morning meal. The sun outside shone brightly as it always did and seemed to shine brighter everyday they went to the dark-side and freed more of their people from the curse.

"My Lord!" Tuplo turned to the messenger rushing into the great hall. He was very surprised to see two of his guards come in behind him helping along a very disheveled looking third between them.

"What is this?" asked Tuplo standing to meet the men.

"He says he is of the Tau'ri." said the messenger. The man wore the clothes of the gods who'd helped them, but he looked ill.

"Tuplo." said the man, he now recognized as Daniel Jackson the man who'd saved his daughter and been un-cursed before his very eyes. "I'm sorry to intrude on you so unexpected, but I was separated from my friends and I'm in need of rest before I can go to a place where I can meet them."

"Please come." said Tuplo, "You are most welcome here my Lord." he turned to the guards, "take him to the guest chamber and see that a bath is prepared so that he may wash and rest himself from his journey."

* * *

Daniel had slept on the beach until it got cold and dark, his clothes were still damp and his head still ached but he was at least coherent enough to realize that he couldn't stay where he was for any longer. The idea to go to the Land of Light had struck him on the long trudge to the Stargate it seemed like as good a place to start and if he was lucky he might run into one of the teams scheduled to check in with the people there and find a way home that way. He was sure there were a few other places he could check but at least this was a place that was safe enough for now.

Daniel felt much better after taking a long hot soak and finally washing the stench of dead fish from his hair. It was a wonder to him how good it was to be warm and dry and comfortable in a huge Minoan bed. Tuplo ever, the gracious host had provided food and water for his guest as well as parchment and quill per Daniel's request.

At breakfast the next morning Daniel found out that visitors from the Tau'ri were not expected for another two months, and knew he couldn't wait that long, he couldn't bear that his friends thought he was dead and he was scared that they might move on without him after so much time.

So with freshly laundered clothes, some supplies and a kiss from the still very grateful Melosha Daniel decided to run down the lists of planets up for mineral surveys in the next few weeks.

"If I can't contact my friends before they are due here, I'll be back to meet them," said Daniel to Tuplo, "but if for some reason they come back early would you give them this," he handed over a rolled piece of parchment. "It's a list of the places I'm going to in order so they might be able to catch up with me. I'll send a message with the next contact team if I'm able to return home safely. I thank you so much for your kindness and hospitality."

"It is only right my Lord; our people owe yours a great debt for giving us the means to lift the curse. But you were the one who guarded over my daughter even while you were cursed you will forever be welcome here."

"Thank you." said Daniel touched, in a good way, "That means a lot to me."

* * *

Daniel spent a few days on each world on his mental list. He knew it was a long shot that the schedule would remain the same, things at the SGC were liquid, but he had hoped to run into at least one SG team on the routine mission scheduled for that planet. Though he'd rested and regained much of his strength Daniel was still weakened by his time with Nem. The headache caused by the memory machine had never really gone away and he kept having memory flashes- Things from his childhood and college years that popped up of nowhere. Some were random, but most had something to do with water or fish and Daniel didn't need a shrink to know where those associations were coming from.

The people on the second planet had been thankfully peaceful and very accommodating to the lone stranger in their midst. They'd provided him with clothes and food for his journey. Also they said they would tell any more of his kind that came later that he'd been there with them, which would have been great if they spoke a language anyone at the SGC would understand without him. But on the off chance they were there he left another parchment with the family he stayed with just in case.

It had been almost three weeks since Nem and coming up on a month since their initial mission. On his third uninhabited planet with no luck Daniel was running low on supplies and he wasn't feeling so hot either, so he decided to go back to the Land of Light, at least there he had the chance to meet up with an SG team, even if he had to wait an other month or so.

It was on the half day hike back from the woods where he'd found shelter that he spotted them. Three bodies sprawled on the ground in the middle of a clearing. Daniel rushed forward, he'd learned about the predators on this planet the hard way, but managed to out run one up a tree his first night there. He was lucky, though one had gotten a piece of his shoulder; it was not enough for him to be concerned about. Because of his near miss and the fact that he was alone he'd been keeping extra wary of his surroundings especially at night.

The three bodies on the ground were three fourths of SG-5 and they were dead. The slashes across their bodies showed that beyond doubt. Daniel looked around him for the fourth member and found drag marks leading into the brush. After few minutes Daniel spotted the telltale green sleeve poking out from under the undergrowth. He cleared the leaves and found a very much alive Lieutenant Barber.

"Barber." Daniel whispered tapping the unconscious man. "Barber, come on wake up." he patted down the man's pockets and came up with an ammonia ampoule. He snapped it under Barber's nose and the young man flinched. "Wakey, wakey."

"Oh, God, am I dead?"

"Not quite." said Daniel with a smile. "You're going to be okay, but I need to know what happened to the creature that attacked you."

"I...shot at it and it ran away." the young soldier whispered as if afraid he would be overheard.

"Okay," said Daniel, "I'm going to see what I can do for your wounds just lie still, okay?"

Barber nodded.

"Okay," said Daniel and began to look the young man over, he had a cut across his chest that was muffled by the thickness of his vest and jacket. There was a nasty gash on his thigh, but over all he'd gotten off a lot lighter than his teammates.

"My friends!" Barber gasped as Daniel bound his leg.

"I'm sorry." Daniel winced in response to both his pain and his question.

"All of them?"

"I'm sorry." said Daniel again. Barber fell silent while Daniel finished tending his wounds until it came time to move him. "Okay, Lieutenant I'm done. Now, do you think you can walk on that leg?" He really hoped that Barber's military bravado would kick in because he wasn't sure that he was up to carrying the injured man back to the gate himself.

"I'll be okay." said Barber already sitting up and wincing.

"Here." said Daniel passing over Barber's canteen and a couple of pills.

"Thanks." Daniel stood and offered his hand down to the other man. Carefully, Barber heaved himself to his feet.

"Are you going to be okay getting to the gate?" asked Daniel, "If you need to rest we need to get out of here the creatures live in these woods and hunt when they get hungry." Daniel stopped when they made it back to the clearing where he'd left the bodies of the rest of SG-5. The clearing was empty with significant lines of blood in the drag marks out of the clearing. "I guess they won't be hungry for a while." said Daniel quietly.

"I think I'm going to be sick." said Barber. Daniel led him away from the clearing back towards the gate.

"We should make it to the gate just after nightfall." said Daniel. Barber nodded limping beside him.

"Hey." said Barber stopping suddenly realizing something. "How do you know about the gate? And how do you know about me? Who the hell are you anyway?"

Daniel frowned, he knew the base was pretty big and even he didn't know everyone, but being a part of SG-1 made him at least identifiable by sight. Then Daniel touched his face he hadn't shaved since the Land of Light and he was wearing robes over his uniform given to him by the family he'd stayed with on the second planet he'd visited. There was also the fact that he'd been pronounced dead more than a month ago. It was no wonder the young man thought he was a stranger. Daniel looked at Barber, he'd just lost his entire team, been wounded by an awful creature and was alone on an alien planet. The man was freaked and trying to hold it together, telling him he was a dead man might not be a good idea at that point. So he just smiled and walked on ahead.

"I'm an explorer like you and I've met the people of the Tau'ri before."

"Really?" asked Barber catching up as best he could. "When?"

Daniel frowned. "On a desert planet quite some time ago. I believe they were called SG-1."

"You met SG-1?" asked Barber. "Damn, you're lucky."

"Why do you say that?" asked Daniel as they continued towards the gate.

"Because SG-1 is gone."

"They're dead?" asked Daniel shocked.

"No," said Barber quickly, "Well mostly no. They lost one of their own Daniel Jackson, you probably met him." said Barber, Daniel nodded. "Well, they're not the same without him, Captain Carter just throws herself into work, and Teal'c well, when we left Teal'c was still in Kel nor reen and no one can pry him out of it. Before he went in he said he was honoring the loss of a great scholar and friend but word was he's sick with guilt because he broke his oath to reunite Jackson with his wife, who was lost to a goa'uld."

"What about their leader, O'Neill? Surely he's not broken up over the loss of a single man? I thought you were part of your planet's military?"

"Oh," Barber almost laughed, "O'Neill is the worst. He's been charging around the base like a bull in a china shop just happening to people who cross his path. There have been rumors that he's going to retire."

"Wow, I didn't realize teams just broke up at the loss of a member." said Daniel.

"Well, they don't. Not normally, but SG-1 well, they're special. They're like a family." Barber finished quietly with a bleak look back the way they came.

"Well, here we are." said Daniel drawing Barber's attention away from his lost team mates.

"How can I thank you?"

"I would like to become friends with your world, perhaps I could come with you? It's been a while since I encountered anyone and my supplies are a little low."

"Hell, guy, you saved my life! Mi casa es su casa." Barber slapped him on the back and Daniel cringed. "Hey, you okay there?"

"Yeah, I had my own run in with those creatures, managed to get up a tree, but not before they got a taste, though." Daniel winced repositioning the makeshift bandage.

"Come on, we'll get you back to the infirmary, fix you up no problem." said Barber.

Daniel didn't know if to be grateful to the other man or scared by his naivety at trusting a stranger. He shook himself, when did he become so jaded? Daniel looked at Barber dialing earth his own energy flagging, but relief evident at the prospect of going home, and realized he hadn't really believed he was going home, until that moment. Barber sent his signal, and Daniel helped him limp up the stairs and through the event horizon.

* * *

Jack was tired. Not just the sleepy kind of tired, but the kind of tired you feel when you've reach the end of tolerance. For some reason, Hammond had told him to pick the new member of SG-1, despite the fact that the General had had, his resignation signed sealed and delivered for more than a month.

The problem was none of the men recommended had what it took to be a member of SG-1. No scratch that, none of them had what it took to replace Daniel. The man had been deemed irreplaceable, in every aspect of the base. In the archeology department, they had a back log of artifacts that no one could identify, they'd never had a problem before because Daniel had known at least something of every culture they'd come across to date. There was even a plan in the works to replace him with a team of archaeologists over the broad range of areas he seemed to be knowledgeable about. That pretty much summed up the linguistics department too. It was really putting a spanner in the works for the engineers who couldn't study a piece of technology until it was evaluated and translated, but unfortunately they were woefully understaffed without the good Doctor Jackson.

It really opened a lot of people's minds as to how much the SGC really depended on Daniel Jackson especially Jack who supervised when the techs removed all the recent work from Daniel's office. There were at least twenty unfinished projects, and a number of cases of artifacts he'd yet to go through. Jack didn't know how much work his friend was doing at one time, but after seeing what came out of his office he was beginning to understand why his friend thought concepts such as sleep and food were luxury uses of time.

He wouldn't let them pack it all up, even now; he wasn't ready and if they were honest neither was anyone else. Jack had a list of acceptable members of SG-1; it was a short one with the name of the single candidate who would fit with the other members very well. It simply read: Dr Daniel Jackson. Nothing more and nothing less would do.

* * *

Daniel stepped out of the cold wormhole, still holding firmly to Lieutenant Barber's arm. The young man's leg failed him and Daniel was forced to take his weight.

"Please help!" called Daniel. The security teams held their weapons on him as he eased Barber down to the ramp. "He's injured please help him."

"Don't shoot," called Barber, "he saved my life."

"Lieutenant, where is the rest of SG-5?" Hammond spoke into the microphone in the control room.

"Dead, sir." said Barber is if just realizing this fact. "They're all dead." he looked down defeated.

"There was nothing you could have done." said Daniel quietly.

"And you are?" asked Hammond.

Daniel squinted up at the window, "Well, sir, you might find this hard to believe, but I am Daniel Jackson."

* * *

Jack was on the verge of sleep, in his on base quarters, when the off-world activation sounded and he shot back awake. No one was due back, but he couldn't bring himself to care about who had come back early and why. He was just setting back down to sleep, when there was knock on the door and an airman appeared informing him his presence was required in the briefing room.

* * *

Daniel stood under the shower spray and reveled in the first real shower he'd had in over a month. He was also acutely aware of the two airmen stood outside the door waiting for him to finish and take him to Dr Frasier for a DNA test. He didn't know if he was more upset about the guards, or that they wouldn't let him have a razor to shave with. Daniel felt sure that without his beard they'd recognize him more easily. Perhaps announcing his identity to the gate-room at large was a mistake, but what was done was done and now he had guards and hopefully an appointment with someone who'd recognize him even with his new look. Daniel washed his hair and beard and dressed in the coveralls provided he sighed, it hadn't even crossed his mind he wouldn't be recognized when he finally made it home.

* * *

Janet Frasier had watched from afar how hard the remaining members of SG-1 had taken the loss of their fourth, especially with the false hope provided them so soon after the funeral. The doctor had gotten a call about the man who'd come through with Lieutenant Barber, the man who claimed he was Daniel Jackson. She wished that he was because maybe bringing him back would make things better, but she wished that he hadn't come because if he wasn't then it would devastate the entire base and probably push SG-1 over the edge they'd been teetering on for the last month.

Janet was pulled from her musings when two SF's and a tall skinny man entered the infirmary. Surely this wasn't the man? His hair was long and matted, and his face gaunt beneath a thick scraggy beard. The jumpsuit he wore hung off him like it was a couple of sizes too big and his hands disappeared in the sleeves.

"What can I do for you gentlemen today?" she asked slipping into her profession like a warm coat.

"I was hoping you could tell them who I am." said the stranger.

"Love to." said Janet, "Who are you?"

"It's me, Daniel." Janet shook her head. So he took a deep breath and continued. "I know Nem gave Sam, Jack and Teal'c false memories of my death, but it is me Janet. I was captured by this creature and it was really sad because he'd lost his wife to the goa'uld four thousand years ago and he thought that because I knew cuneiform that I would know what happened to her. I thought he was going to kill me so many times, but I couldn't hate him because his situation was too much like my own. I'm sorry, if I've caused you harm, or difficulty by just turning up here after so long but you have to believe me when I say it is good to be home." he said with a small smile.

Janet blinked and looked into his eyes. "Daniel?" she asked. He nodded. "My god!" she cried. "What took you so long?" she wrapped her arms around him in a huge hug, until she remembered her place and stepped back. Daniel looked pained. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, a scratch courtesy of the residents of P2R-435."

"The same things that attacked SG-5?"

"Yeah I think so; I didn't see the one that got the others, Barber ran it off before I got there."

"Come on lets get you situated and we'll get as many tests done as we can before the rest of your team storms in here demanding to see you."

Daniel sobered. "How are they Janet? Barber said they weren't dealing so well with my...death."

"Well, no they aren't really dealing at all. But it's going to get better now you're back come on, the General ordered SG-1 to the control room a few minutes ago, and we don't have a lot of time." Janet eyed him thoughtfully. "The beard has got to go." she said.

* * *

Jack sat in shock, staring at the security footage of an infirmary isolation room. The man sat on the bed dressed in scrubs. He had long sandy brown hair and swung his feet on the edge of the gurney.

"It can't be him," said Jack in barely a whisper. "We saw him die."

"Sir." said Sam her eyes welling with tears.

"I know Carter, but he's dead there was nothing left, we searched everywhere."

Teal'c hadn't taken his eyes off the screen. "What kind of deception is this?"

"It's not a deception Teal'c." said Janet. "The tests confirm he is Daniel and he's not a goa'uld and there are no foreign agents in his system."

"What happened to him?"

"He says he escaped when the lab collapsed and has been bouncing around planets on the up coming mission list in the hopes of running into someone with a GDO."

"He's been out there alone for more than a month?" asked Sam shocked.

"That's what he said."

"Why did he lie to Barber? The kid's as shocked over that as he is the loss of his team." said Jack.

"He didn't want to freak him out anymore than he already was and Daniel wasn't sure the Lieutenant wouldn't just leave him behind if he just came out with it, especially looking how he did with the beard and everything. It was hard for me to recognize him with all the weight he's lost as well." said Janet.

"Can we see him? Is he okay?" asked Sam.

"He's malnourished, dehydrated and exhausted. He has a cut on his shoulder from his own run in with the creatures that attacked SG-5. It was infected but I've cleaned it and started him on IV saline and antibiotics. Other than that he's just glad to be home, finally." said Janet.

"Sir, permission..." asked Jack

"Granted." said Hammond, "go." The three members of SG-1 were gone before he finished.

* * *

Daniel was drifting off to sleep thanks to whatever Janet had put in his IV. He'd wanted to see his teammates before he let himself go, but it seemed as though he wasn't going to get a say in the matter.

"He's asleep." whispered Sam with a glance at her teammates, as she approached the bed. Daniel stirred ready to say that he wasn't, but he was too far gone and soon he really was fast asleep. Sam brushed his hair off his face. "He must have been exhausted."

"He's been out there over a month." said Jack. "It's a wonder he's not dead." Jack took a good look at his sleeping friend, taking in the dark shadows and the gaunt cheeks. "I can't believe we left him behind."

Daniel turned in his sleep, remembering his time with Nem his anguish for the creature's pain and the very real fear that he would die alone and never see his friends or his wife ever again.

"Daniel." Jack touched his friend to calm his dreams, "Its okay, Daniel you're home."

Daniel opened his eyes and saw the most wonderful thing; all his friends standing around his bed alive and well.

"Am I dreaming?" he asked as Sam took his hand in hers.

"No, Daniel." she said, "This is real, you're home."

Daniel smiled. "I just had the most awful dream," he said frowning, "and none of you were there."

Sam held his hand tighter, fighting tears. "We're here now Daniel its okay."

"It was just a bad dream, we're here now you can rest." said Jack.

"Okay," said Daniel not looking convinced.

"Daniel Jackson, you may rest assured that when you awaken we will still be here." said Teal'c.

Daniel smiled a little as his eyes drooped and closed. Jack's face was a mask of guilt and pain as he sat next to his friend's bed. He wouldn't be letting him out of sight for sometime to come, and even then he thought looking at Sam and Teal'c, Jack figured he'd have some help keeping an eye on their miraculously resurrected friend.

* * *

I've had on my HD for a while and I thought I'd post it and if I can find the sequel I put that up too.

Later

Cynic


End file.
